U.S. patent application number 14/358813 was filed with the patent office on 2014-11-20 for operator control element.
The applicant listed for this patent is AUDI AG. Invention is credited to Johann Schneider, Michael Wachinger.
Application Number | 20140339849 14/358813 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47172585 |
Filed Date | 2014-11-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140339849 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schneider; Johann ; et
al. |
November 20, 2014 |
OPERATOR CONTROL ELEMENT
Abstract
An operator control element system for a vehicle has an operator
control element. The operator control element has a plurality of
operator control areas and a region which faces an operator and a
region which is located in a vehicle trim panel. The operator
control element is distinguished in that it is mounted such that it
can pivot about a rotation axis.
Inventors: |
Schneider; Johann;
(Wettstetten, DE) ; Wachinger; Michael;
(Winkelhausen, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
AUDI AG |
Ingolstadt |
|
DE |
|
|
Family ID: |
47172585 |
Appl. No.: |
14/358813 |
Filed: |
October 19, 2012 |
PCT Filed: |
October 19, 2012 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2012/004392 |
371 Date: |
May 16, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
296/70 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60K 2370/158 20190501;
H01H 21/22 20130101; H01H 2021/225 20130101; B60K 37/06
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
296/70 |
International
Class: |
B60K 37/06 20060101
B60K037/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 16, 2011 |
DE |
10 2011 118 723.9 |
Claims
1-14. (canceled)
15. A control element system for a vehicle, comprising: a panel of
the vehicle; a control element having an exterior region facing an
operator and an interior region disposed in the panel of the
vehicle, the control element being mounted so as to be pivotable
about an axis of rotation, the control element having a plurality
of control fields in the form of press buttons or touch-sensitive
surfaces, operation of the control fields causing the control
element to pivot; and an actuator associated with the control
element to produce movement of the control element, the actuator
being triggered by operation of the control fields of the control
element.
16. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
axis of rotation runs parallel to a surface of the panel of the
vehicle.
17. The control element system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the
axis of rotation runs parallel to and in substantially in a same
plane as the surface of the panel of the vehicle.
18. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
interior region of the control element is mounted between operation
detection sensors.
19. The control element system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the
operation detection sensors are pressure sensors.
20. The control element system as claimed in claim 19, wherein a
sensor signal of the pressure sensors controls the actuator.
21. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
interior region of the control element is mounted between operation
detection sensors, and when the control element pivots and the
exterior region of the control element moves in a first direction,
the interior region of the control element moves in a second
direction opposite to the first direction to trigger one of the
operation detection sensors.
22. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
exterior region of the control element protrudes out of a surface
of the panel of the vehicle.
23. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
control fields are disposed on a top and/or a bottom of the
exterior region of the control element.
24. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
panel of the vehicle is a side wall of a center console, and the
control element is disposed in the side wall of the center
console.
25. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
panel of the vehicle is a vehicle door, and the control element is
disposed in the vehicle door.
26. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
exterior region of the control element has an approximately
drop-shaped cross section.
27. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
control element is formed as a switch panel.
28. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
control element is formed as a lever.
29. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein each
control field is associated with a different function of the
vehicle, such that selective operation of the control fields
activates different associated functions of the vehicle.
30. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
exterior region of the control element has opposing first and
second sides, which run in respective planes that are substantially
parallel to the axis of rotation, control fields are provided on
both the first and second sides of the control element, and each
control field is associated with a different function of the
vehicle, such that selective operation of the control fields
activates different associated functions of the vehicle.
31. The control element system as claimed in claim 30, wherein the
control fields are positioned such that complimentary functions are
associated with the first and second sides of the control element,
with positive activation functions being associated with the first
side of the control element and negative activation functions being
associated with the second side of the control element.
32. The control element system as claimed in claim 30, wherein the
control fields are positioned such that complimentary functions are
associated with the first and second sides of the control element,
the functions associated with the first side of the control element
are selected from the group consisting of increasing volume,
increasing temperature, increasing ventilation, and turning on of
lighting, and the functions associated with the second side of the
control element are selected from the group consisting of
decreasing volume, decreasing temperature, decreasing ventilation,
and turning off of lighting.
33. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
exterior region of the control element has first and second
opposing sides, which run in respective planes that are
substantially parallel to the axis of rotation, the control fields
are provided on at least the first side of the control element, the
control fields comprise at least one first control field and at
least one second control field, a first function is associated with
the at least one first control field and a second function is
associated with the at least one second control field, operating
the at least one first control field and pivoting the control
element in a first direction or a second direction positively or
negatively activates the first function, respectively, operating
the at least one second control field and pivoting the control
element in the first direction or the second direction positively
or negatively activates the second function.
34. The control element system as claimed in claim 33, wherein the
interior region of the control element is mounted between operation
detection sensors, and pivoting the control element moves the
exterior region of the control element in a direction opposite to
the interior region of the control element, causing the interior
region of the control element to trigger one of the operation
detection sensors.
35. The control element system as claimed in claim 33, wherein the
axis of rotation is substantially horizontal, the first side of the
control element is an upper side of the control element, an upward
movement of the exterior region of the control element pivots the
control element in the first direction and a downward movement of
the exterior of the control element pivots the control element in
the second direction, and positive activation of the first and
second functions is associated with the upward movement of the
exterior region of the control element and negative activation of
the first and second functions is associated with the downward
movement of the exterior region of the control element.
36. The control element system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
actuator is an electromagnet, which causes the control element to
provide haptic feedback to the operator when the operator contacts
one or more of the control fields.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is based on and hereby claims priority to
International Application No. PCT/EP2012/004392 filed on Oct. 19,
2012 and German Application No. 10 2011 118 723.9 filed on Nov. 16,
2011, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by
reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present invention relates to a control element.
[0003] With the generic control element disclosed in DE 103 43 134
A1 the control element is fixed in position and joined to the
surface of a vehicle panel so as to be approximately flush
therewith.
SUMMARY
[0004] One potential object is to provide a control element with
simple operation and a wide range of uses.
[0005] The inventors propose a control element system in which the
control element is mounted so as to pivot about an axis of rotation
that is parallel to a surface of a vehicle panel. The pivot angle
is thereby preferably between 5 and 30.degree.. With such an
embodiment of the control element it can be used at any point in
the entire interior paneling of the vehicle, which extends the use
of control elements in vehicles.
[0006] In one embodiment the region of the control element disposed
in the vehicle panel is mounted between operation detection
sensors. Thus the region of the control element disposed in the
vehicle panel presses against a sensor that detects an operation
when the control element is operated by an operator, which causes
pivoting of the control element about the axis of rotation, and the
sensor generates a sensor signal. Advantageously, the operation
detection sensors are in the form of pressure sensors, whereas of
course other sensors are also conceivable as operation detection
sensors. With this embodiment, an easily handled control element
results that functions similarly to a piano key.
[0007] Advantageously, the region of the control element facing the
operator protrudes out of the surface of the vehicle panel. It is
particularly advantageous if the protrusion lies in the range from
3 cm to 8 cm. This design of the control element increases the
accessibility to the control element and thus also improves
operability.
[0008] In an alternative embodiment an actuator is integrated
within the control element, which imposes a movement on the control
element when the control element is operated by the operator and
thus produces tactile feedback to the operator. The actuator can
e.g. be an electromagnetically driven actuator here. When the
control element is operated an operation signal is passed to a
control unit from the operation sensors. The control unit passes
said operation signal to the actuator and triggers it.
[0009] Advantageously, the control fields, which can e.g. be in the
form of press buttons or touch-sensitive surfaces, are disposed on
the top and/or the bottom of the control element. With the control
fields disposed on the top and the bottom of the region of the
control element facing the operator, it is particularly
advantageous if complementary control functions such as e.g.
"increase volume" and "reduce volume" are disposed opposite each
other, i.e. "increase volume" on the top and "reduce volume" on the
bottom of the region of the control element facing the operator.
The intuitive operation of the control element is improved with
such an embodiment of the control element. Of course, the control
fields can also have other associated functions, such as e.g.
temperature regulation, ventilation regulation or radio
transmitter.
[0010] In another embodiment the control element is disposed on a
side wall of a central console or on a vehicle door.
[0011] Advantageously, the region of the control element facing the
operator has a drop-shaped cross section.
[0012] In another embodiment the control element is in the form of
a bar or of a lever.
[0013] The control element can be made of a plastic or a metal such
as aluminum. In order to improve the presentation of individual
control fields of the control element, it can be provided that the
surfaces (in the case of plastic), which normally includes a dark
cover layer, are lasered out at the control field borders and a
light source such as e.g. an LED or OLED is integrated within the
control element. Such an embodiment causes illumination of the
border regions of the control fields. An indirect light feed by
optical fibers into the control element is also conceivable, in
order to be able to illuminate the border regions of the control
fields.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] These and other objects and advantages of the present
invention will become more apparent and more readily appreciated
from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
[0015] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the control element in a
sectional view,
[0016] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the control element.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred
embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference
numerals refer to like elements throughout.
[0018] In the sectional view of FIG. 1 the control element 1
comprises a region 2 facing the operator that protrudes out of the
vehicle panel 6 and a region 3 disposed in the vehicle panel 6.
Here the region 2 facing the operator protrudes by 3 cm to 8 cm
from the vehicle panel 6. The control element 1 is mounted so as to
pivot about the axis of rotation 4, which runs parallel to a
surface 7 of the vehicle panel 6. The pivot angle by which the
control element pivots is in the range from 10.degree. to
25.degree. in this case. The region 3 of the control element 1 that
is disposed in the vehicle panel 6 is mounted between operation
detection sensors 5.1, 5.2. If the operator presses on a control
field 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6 on the top 8 or the bottom
9 of the region 2 of the control element 1 facing the operator,
then the control element 1 pivots about the axis of rotation 4 of
the control element 1. As a result of said pivoting motion the
region 3 of the control element 1 disposed in the vehicle panel 6
presses with one side 10, 11 on the operation detection sensors
5.1, 5.2, which are in the form of pressure sensors. The side 10,
11 that presses on the operation detection sensors 5.1, 5.2 depends
on whether a control field 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6 of
the top 8 or of the bottom 9 of the region 2 of the control element
1 facing the operator is operated. If a control field on the top 8
of the region 2 of the control element 1 facing the operator is
operated, the side 10 of the region 3 of the control element 1
disposed in the vehicle panel 6 presses on the operation detection
sensor 5.1. If a control field on the bottom 9 of the region 2 of
the control element 1 facing the operator is operated, then the
side 11 of region 3 of the control element 1 disposed in the
vehicle panel 6 presses on the operation detection sensor 5.2. The
operation detection sensors 5.1, 5.2 pass the operation signal to a
control unit that is not shown, which then carries out the
corresponding control function and controls an actuator disposed in
the control element 1 and not shown in FIG. 1. The actuator
produces tactile feedback to the operator when controlled by
imposing on the entire control element a movement along the axis of
rotation 4 of the control element, which can be detected by the
operator.
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the region 2 of the control
element 1 facing the operator. A plurality of control fields 12.1
to 12.6 with different control functions is disposed on the top 8
of the region 2 of the control element 1 facing the operator. Here
the control fields 12.1 to 12.6 are occupied by "positive" control
functions such as e.g. increase volume, increase temperature,
increase ventilation, or switch on the interior lighting.
[0020] The invention has been described in detail with particular
reference to preferred embodiments thereof and examples, but it
will be understood that variations and modifications can be
effected within the spirit and scope of the invention covered by
the claims which may include the phrase "at least one of A, B and
C" as an alternative expression that means one or more of A, B and
C may be used, contrary to the holding in Superguide v. DIRECTV, 69
USPQ2d 1865 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
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